Waggit: the dog collar that helps detect illness

Wearables are not just for humans anymore. You can now purchase anything from a GPS tracker to a Fitbit type device for your pooch. Technology is also starting to provide pet owners with unprecedented insight into their animal’s health.

Yesterday, a Kickstarter campaign launched for Waggit, an intelligent collar that tracks your pup’s vitals. This is not a typical device for pet owners who usually rely on veterinary professionals when it comes to health concerns of their pooch. In fact, if the campaign goes well, it has potential to become the most feature packed device on the market.

The collar continuously tracks a host of data including resting vitals, body positions, sleep quality, activity and nutrition. It then compares this to a baseline level and alerts owners to important changes. The aim is to detect a disease or illness at an early stage, so that the pet doesn’t suffer and vet bills are kept to a minimum.

This info can be incredibly useful as changes in vitals, body position, and sleep quality could all be signs of an underlying health problem. For example, a dog who is no longer sleeping on his right side could be doing so because of discomfort caused by pain, injury or sickness.

“Detecting health issues early in dogs is super rare. At the same time, diseases like cancer, kidney disease, heart disease, epilepsy, and arthritis are on the rise in dogs,” said co-founder and CEO Susan Sierota.

“My dog Dylan is a part of the family, so I know first-hand how important it is to be able to provide the best care for our fur babies. This is why we are so excited to have developed Waggit – it is the only smart collar that makes monitoring the health and well being of your fur baby as easy as loving him.”

The product, which has been in beta since June of this year, has a slew of other features. There is nutrition and activity monitoring, a temperature sensor that monitors a pet’s environment, built-in GPS, and the option to set up a virtual fence to keep your pooch safe. Waggit pulls all this together into one handy device. To help with training, you’ll also find three ultrasound speakers that emit multiple sounds from the collar.

All of this is managed via the smartphone app. This allows you to share health reports via a vet, too.

If you’re like most dog owners, your pooch is part of the family. Sales of wearables for pets are booming thanks to consumers who want to improve their pets’ lives with devices similar to what they themselves are using.

Waggit is going for $169 right now, which is $110 off the retail price. This includes a six month ($4.95/month) fee for cellular service. It’s only available for dogs 20 pounds or more but a version for smaller dogs and cats is in the pipeline.

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